Force India joins the big guns

Force India was disappointed with 10th and 13th on the Melbourne grid - whereas a year ago it would have been thrilled. Edd Straw talked to Vijay Mallya about the team's transformation

Two years ago to the month, Vijay Mallya watched the team that he had taken over five months previously make its grand prix debut in Melbourne after its rebirth as Force India. His cars were a country mile off making Q2 – the fastest was over one second away – and come Sunday the Force Indias managed a grand total of eight laps between them.

Today, only Melbourne's gloomy weather gave Mallya reason for disappointment as he watched his team prove once again – if it still needed to – that it must now be regarded as a serious player in Formula 1 rather than as a mere over-achieving curiosity.